Chinese zodiac · Year of the Rat
The Water Rat: 1972, 2032, 2092
壬子 · Ren zǐ · Yang Water stem on the Water branch
A Water Rat year pairs the Heavenly Stem 壬 (Ren, yang Water) with the Earthly Branch 子 (zǐ, the Rat). The pair recurs every sixty years, so in the range AsterNym covers the Water Rat years are 1972, 2032, 2092. The animal is the same each time; the stem is what makes a Water Rat different from a Wood Rat or a Fire Rat. The popular zodiac begins each of these years at Lunar New Year and BaZi begins it at Li Chun, so both boundaries are given below for every year.
What a Water Rat is like
Popular Chinese zodiac tradition. For reflection, not prediction.
The Water Rat is the most perceptive, reading people easily and saying little, the strategist at its most fluid.
The Water Rat of 1972 is the perceptive one, and 2032 will be the next; the tradition reads Water on the Water branch as the Rat at its most fluid and its least guarded.
In BaZi terms the Water stem sits on a Water branch, the same element twice. Practitioners read a matched pair as a year with one clear voice: the Rat's nature amplified rather than argued with, strong in its own direction and short of counterweight. Whatever the Rat does, this year does more of it.
The rest of the Rat’s character, in love, at work and the growing edge, is on the Year of the Rat page.
Water Rat years and when each begins
The popular zodiac year begins at Lunar New Year; BaZi begins it at Li Chun, the start of spring. Both dates are given so a birth between them can be placed in either system.
| Year | Lunar New Year (popular zodiac) | Ends | Li Chun (BaZi) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 15 February 1972 | 2 February 1973 | 5 February 1972 |
| 2032 | 11 February 2032 | 30 January 2033 | 4 February 2032 |
| 2092 | outside the table | … | 4 February 2092 |
The next Water Rat year is 2032. Check any birthday against the boundary with the finder.
Famous Water Rats
Public birth records, assigned by the Lunar New Year boundary.
Born in 1972
- EminemAmerican rapper, record producer and actor
- Zinedine ZidaneFrench footballer and coach
- Gwyneth PaltrowAmerican actress, entrepreneur, writer and singer
- Josh DuhamelAmerican actor and former model
- Dwayne JohnsonAmerican actor and professional wrestler
- Ben AffleckAmerican actor, director and screenwriter
Common questions
- When does the Year of the Water Rat start?
- The 1972 Water Rat year began at Lunar New Year on 15 February 1972 and ran to 2 February 1973. The 2032 Water Rat year began at Lunar New Year on 11 February 2032 and ran to 30 January 2033. 2092 is outside AsterNym's Lunar New Year table. BaZi turns the year at Li Chun instead (1972: 5 February 1972; 2032: 4 February 2032; 2092: 4 February 2092), so a birth between the two dates carries different year animals in the two systems.
- What is a Water Rat personality?
- The Water Rat is the most perceptive, reading people easily and saying little, the strategist at its most fluid. In BaZi terms the Water stem sits on a Water branch, the same element twice. Practitioners read a matched pair as a year with one clear voice: the Rat's nature amplified rather than argued with, strong in its own direction and short of counterweight. Whatever the Rat does, this year does more of it.
- When is the next Water Rat year?
- 2032. The pair of stem 壬 and branch 子 recurs every sixty years.